Francesca Steyn, writing for HR Review about the provision of fertility support for all employees, makes a very important point that is worth reiterating from the outset… Nobody should be discriminated against – in the workplace as much as anywhere else – on whatever grounds. If policies, laws and their implementation are good for one group of people then they should be as good for all.
However (and I realise that this will not be a popular view – yet), we also have to balance our laws and policies with wider interests. In practice, what this means, is that some ‘rights’ have to be reexamined and, occasionally, rewritten, reduced or even lost when they run counter to the bigger picture.
We cannot escape from the fact that the planet has limited resources. It is no longer ‘in balance’ and nobody can be in any doubt that the consequence of this is climate change. This has now reached the point where it is referred to as a climate crisis. At the heart of the climate crisis is the undeniable truth that the Earth has too many people on it. Estimates vary a little, but it is currently said to be running at 1.7x the number of people to the capacity that it has (Source: The Facts | Population Matters). Worse still, the population is growing by 80M each year.
What this means, in real terms, is that we need to halve the number of people on the planet. Not overnight, of course! But by a major change in our cultural attitudes to family size and the ‘right’ to bear children. Nobody is suggesting that we go back to the days of high infant mortality, however we no longer need large families to support us in our dotage.
There are many dimensions to this, but one simple one is for us to accept that having a child is a ‘blessing’ (if you subscribe to a Faith) or ‘good fortune’ (if you do not); it is a priviledge, but it is NOT a right.
In terms of corporate policy, it is one thing to cut parents a little slack, it is a very different issue when we start providing prospective ones with support to further undermine the future of the planet. This runs counter to our policies of sustainability and is discriminatory to the increasing proportion of the population who choose to be, or simpy are, childless.
As I said, I realise that this harsh reality isn’t going to be popular, but corporate leaders cannot escape their responsibility. It is time for us to be having tough discussions.
